On Her Own
by alatariel-gildaen
Summary: Eric quickly realizes just how much attention Daryl pays to Carol. Even if Daryl doesn't notice it himself.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - This came from a prompt I received on tumblr, that Carol has a song stuck in her head, and eventually Daryl starts singing it too, and gets caught. Enjoy, and please don't forget to leave feedback if you enjoyed it!**

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Daryl shook his head slightly as he ran his fingers over the bike's worn tires. He had spares for practically every other part, but tires...nothing. And if he didn't come across any spares soon, his bike would be unusable.

A drop of rain landed on the back of his hand, and he looked up at the gray sky. The weather had been so changeable lately, switching from blinding heat to torrential rain in the blink of an eye. "Dammit," he muttered under his breath, and he pushed the bike back inside Aaron and Eric's garage to continue working on it.

The bike had been sluggish starting up recently, so he pulled the battery out from its housing underneath the seat and checked the levels. Just as he suspected, it was low, so he topped it up with deionized water, and made a note to check in any hardware stores for more; it was another essential that could mean the difference between getting stranded or getting home safely.

A crash of thunder made him look up. Outside the rain was falling heavily, and the lights reflecting from somewhere upstairs made the pavements shine like silver.

 _Shine like silver?_

He wondered briefly where the rather poetic thought had come from, and could feel a slight heat creeping across his cheeks and the back of his neck, even though he had not voiced anything out loud.

Pointless being all lyrical and sentimental when he had work to do.

After reinstalling the battery, he checked the oil and coolant levels. Both needed topping up, and he hummed a tune to himself as he did so. He frowned very slightly as he tried to remember precisely where he knew the tune from, but for the life of him, he couldn't place it.

But the tune wouldn't leave him alone, and he continued to hum it as he wiped his hands clean on an old rag.

Another crash of thunder and the sky darkened even further. Lights appeared in the windows of all the houses in Alexandria; they shone through the leaves on the birches outside, making the trees appear to be full of starlight.

The heat across his cheeks intensified. _Full of starlight?_ What the hell was he thinking?

He returned to the bike; he'd oil and adjust the cables then call it a day. And hopefully get the damn tune out of his head.

" _On my own, pretending he's beside me…_ "

He jumped and dropped the oil can with a clang, and turned around to see Eric grinning at him.

"The hell are ya doin', sneakin' up like that?"

"It's the song you were singing."

"Ain't singin' no damn songs," Daryl replied, returning his attention to the bike.

"I hadn't pegged you for a lover of musicals."

"Told ya, I ain't singin' no songs. Don't know where I heard it."

"It's a favorite of mine, you see. Aaron hates musicals, so I only really get to listen to it when you and him are out."

"Right."

"Carol, too. Turns out she's quite a fan."

His heart skipped several beats at the mention of Carol's name, and he glanced over at Eric before pretending to return his full attention to the bike.

"Especially of that song," continued Eric. "And she's got really quite a beautiful voice."

"Hadn't noticed," Daryl lied. Truth was, he had heard her singing several times. He'd never really paid attention to the words; he was too mesmerized by the sound of her voice.

"We tend to sing that one as a duet when you're away. Because, well… I miss him, and she…"

He stopped talking abruptly as Daryl glared at him.

"Anyway, I just wanted to remind you, it's pasta night tonight, so if you wanted to join us, you're more than welcome. And I wouldn't blame you at all if you didn't want to walk home in that rain."

He nodded with an awkward jerk of his head and didn't trust himself to look up once again. "Sounds good," he said quietly.

"I'll leave you to it then," replied Eric, and he left Daryl alone, but Daryl could still hear Eric singing the song that he now knew he must have heard from Carol, and for once he paid attention to the sound of the lyrics.

" _I love him, but every day I'm learning. All my life, I've only been pretending. Without me, his world will go on turning; the world is full of happiness that I have never known._ "

Without thinking, he stormed out into the rain. He had to talk to her. And he was halfway there when a nagging voice in his head told him he was being a fool. That her singing some damn song didn't mean a thing.

With a heavy sigh, he pushed his soaking wet hair out of his eyes, and dejectedly walked back towards Aaron and Eric's place. If she truly felt that way about him, surely she would tell him?

After all, what kind of a fool would keep such feelings a secret?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Here's the final part of this little story. This does contain some spoilers for series 7b, based on spoilers that are floating around the interwebs, but nothing _too_ major.**

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He nodded briefly towards Ezekiel and watched as the eccentric man rode out of sight, before he turned back towards the decaying bungalow. Carol was inside, and it was tearing him apart.

She had left. She had tried to hide from him. From everyone. From him…

His knuckles gave a particularly painful throb, and he absentmindedly rubbed the bandages, wincing very slightly as he did so. There was not a single ounce of remorse at what he had done to that asshole who wanted her dead. Indeed, his only regret was that Morgan had stopped him before he could finish what he had started. If there was one thing he had learned so far from his encounters with The Saviors, it was that granting mercy to assholes that didn't deserve it got people killed.

His mercy had got Denise killed.

His mercy had got Glenn killed.

And if his mercy now got Carol killed…

He swallowed the lump that rose in his throat and reached out to the nearby fence to steady himself. No. She was inside. She was under Ezekiel's protection. And Rick had convinced Ezekiel to go to war, rending Richard's vile little plan obsolete anyway.

But she had still hidden herself away from him. From everyone. From him…

He recalled the strange look that had crossed Ezekiel's face as he learned of the plot to kill Carol, and of Daryl's reaction to it. He had smiled, and a strange mix of understanding coupled with loss had reached his eyes. "So you are the one that she…" he began, before he stepped closer and said, "I am happy to see that you are not running away from it. Embrace it. There is still good in this world, after all."

He had learned from Morgan that she wanted to be left alone, but she had to understand that after everything, he couldn't simply walk away from her. Doing so would be to lose the best part of himself. Surely she would change her mind when she saw him?

But...what if she didn't? He wasn't sure if his heart could take such an open rejection. Not after everything they had been through.

In absolute silence he pushed the gate open and stepped through, pulling it closed behind him. Within the boundaries of the fence, the world seemed somehow more peaceful, and he paused for a moment to listen to the sound of birds singing, of cicadas chirruping, and of...something else.

His heart stood still as he recognized Carol's voice. She was singing softly to herself; a sad song that he had heard her sing before.

He sat down on the porch and leaned his back against the wall, closing his eyes to concentrate on what he could hear.

" _Sometimes I walk alone at night, when everybody else is sleeping, I think of him and then I'm happy with the company I'm keeping._ "

Sometimes, back in Alexandria, he noticed that she would slip out of the house at night. She would sit alone on the porch swing, smoking a cigarette. He had lost count of the number of times he had wanted to go to her. To sit with her. Not to make her talk. Just to let her know he was there, and that she didn't have to be alone. She had stopped him pulling away once. The least he could do for her was to reciprocate.

" _The city goes to bed and I can live inside my head._ "

But that was how she had first pulled away. Not by running, as he had planned to do. By falling so far inwards that she was lost. And he had been too caught up in himself to reach out and catch her.

" _On my own, pretending he's beside me, all alone, I walk with him 'til morning._ "

She was so damn good at pretending. Hell, she'd done so well at convincing the residents of Alexandria with that Martha Stewart routine that he'd almost believed it himself. And he was good at pretending too. He'd been pretending for far too long that everything was alright between them. That she would reach out to him when she was ready. Damn fool.

" _Without him, I feel his arms around me, and when I lose my way I close my eyes and he has found me._ "

His own eyes flew open, and immediately he could feel a terrible pricking behind them. Blinking furiously, he wiped away the tears that fell on the back of his hand and stood up. He had found her. And after losing her so many times before, he would not let it happen again.

He took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

He only had to wait a few moments. The angelic singing stopped, and he heard her footsteps coming closer to the door.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you—" she said, but stopped abruptly the moment she opened the door.

He had almost forgotten how damn beautiful she was. All the hellish ugliness he had seen over the past few weeks had left little room for anything else but seeing her now was a balm fit to soothe any wound.

For several agonising heartbeats, neither of them moved.

But then her arms were around him, and his hands cradled the back of her head as she pressed her face into his shoulder. Tears filled her clear blue eyes as she looked up him, and as she gently brushed his own tears away with the pads of her thumbs.

"I can't lose ya," he said, as he placed his hands over her much smaller ones. "I need ya to know that. I know I ain't perfect. But you make me as close to it as I'll ever get. Ya just gotta let me in."

Time stood still once again, until, at long last, she nodded. Wordlessly she stepped aside, and allowed him to enter her sanctuary.

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 **A/N -** I'm a sucker for happy endings. Or at least endings that have happy potential. Obviously the song was _On My Own_ from _Les Miserables._ Hope you all enjoyed this little mini ficlet, and please do hit that review button!


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